GOP Crime Blotter
Deep, deep, deep swamp division. The swampiest swamp. The most swamp swamp of all swamps. This guy has been a high-powered Republican and Trump man for decades and of course recommended main Russia-Trump asset Manafort to be hired.
A confidant of former President Donald Trump goes on trial beginning this week on charges he illegally pushed U.S. officials to support policies favoring the United Arab Emirates, a case that could detail the small Gulf state’s back-channel connections and outsize sway in Washington.
Thomas Barrack, the former chairman of investment firm Colony Capital Inc., is accused of acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General.
Federal prosecutors allege Mr. Barrack worked with a former colleague and an Emirati citizen to influence the Trump administration and U.S. officials at the direction of high-ranking Emirati officials. At the same time, Mr. Barrack solicited and received about $374 million in capital commitments from Emirati sovereign-wealth funds, they say.
Mr. Barrack, who was charged in July 2021, is also accused of obstruction of justice and making false statements during a 2019 interview with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jury selection is set to start Monday in a Brooklyn federal court. The trial is expected to last about a month.